Herald Staff
Q: Is it legal to retrieve one’s mail from your driver’s side window, meaning said vehicle must face the wrong way against oncoming traffic?
These mailboxes are never a full vehicle length off the road, as is obvious when you view a postal delivery vehicle at work. Therefore, the offending vehicle is blocking oncoming traffic to some degree and will proceed against traffic at some point.
It’s one more danger to avoid. I see this behavior constantly, even on Highway 9.
A: Lt. Mark Thomas with the Washington State Patrol said state law says vehicles shall be driven on the right half of a roadway and then lists several exceptions including when passing, to go around an obstruction, on three-lane highways and on one-way roads.
"None of the exceptions could be construed to allow the driving you described," Thomas said. "RCW 46.61.560 covers stopping a vehicle on the roadway. This law makes it illegal to stop your vehicle on the traveled portion of the road."
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